ESPN Men's Basketball

1. The Big East and SEC are expected to finalize the pairings for their challenge sometime in the next two weeks. Any speculation (as I did last week) on the pairings is now moot as the conferences try to figure out arena openings and home/road setup. The Big East coaches were told that the event will happen. Politicking has begun for some. Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin wants a marquee home game. The ACC-Big Ten Challenge has matched teams that are supposed to finish in similar positions; this event hasn’t been handled like that overall. Cincinnati played Georgia last season despite the Bearcats being an upper-division Big East team and Georgia picked for the lower level of the SEC. “I don’t know why we wouldn’t rank our teams, too," Cronin said. “I’m asking the league to get us a like opponent. If we’re being picked high then we want the same thing (from the SEC)."

2. Cronin is attempting to upgrade his schedule and has secured a top-25 home-and-home series, which isn’t easy in this era of schools looking for more neutral-site non-conference games. Cronin and New Mexico coach Steve Alford said they will play a home-and-home series next season, to start in Cincinnati. The Bearcats will visit the Pit the following season.

3. Murray State coach Steve Prohm said he has had discussions with Virginia Commonwealth about a home-and-home series but nothing is finalized. The Rams are searching for multiple games after losing Richmond and George Washington from the schedule now that they’re all in the Atlantic 10. VCU also needs two more games, since the A-10 plays 16 games and the CAA played 18. VCU coach Shaka Smart said many possibilities remain, but one certainty is that the Rams will continue the rivalry with Old Dominion, which will be off to Conference USA in 2013. Smart said the home-and-home series will start at ODU in 2012-13.

PORTLAND -- Louisville went one-and-done the past two years in the NCAA tournament, and coach Rick Pitino seemed just a bit defensive about it when he met with reporters on Wednesday. Ah, but it became clear after his Cardinals slipped past New Mexico 59-56 and earned a berth in the program's 18th Sweet 16 that he was just striking a pose.

A defensive pose, just like his team struck in victories over Davidson and then the Lobos.

New Mexico shot just 39.7 percent from the field, was 5-of-23 from 3-point range and surrendered 13 turnovers, as Louisville prevailed in a battle of two tough defenses. Louisville shot 45.8 percent from the field, including 7-of-15 from 3-point range.

"We played great defense tonight," Pitino said.

But the story of the game was a pair of second-half runs. The Cardinals jumped ahead 44-29 with an 18-4 run to start the second half, and the game looked like it might become a blowout. But the Lobos countered with a 17-5 run that closed the gap to 49-46 with 6:30 remaining.

That's when things got interesting. Lobos forward Drew Gordon tipped in a rebound to cut the margin to 55-53 with 1:10 left, but the Cardinals answered with a drive and dish from Peyton Siva that ended with a Gorgui Dieng dunk with 35 seconds remaining. (Said Pitino, "That was a great pass."). Siva, who surged late after being quiet most of the game, hit two clutch free throws, which made a 3-pointer from Gordon with 3 seconds left mostly academic.

Louisville, which improved to 29-9, will play the winner of Sunday's Michigan State-Saint Louis in the Sweet 16 in Phoenix.

Russ Smith led the Cardinals with 17 points. He connected on all three of his 3-point attempts, and also grabbed three of the Cardinals' nine steals.

"He always comes up big for us," Pitino said. "When we struggle for points, he's always there."

For New Mexico, the late run surely will engender some wonder at why the second half started so slowly, as a 1-point deficit became 15 points.

"We were just out of rhythm, out of sync offensively, I thought," Lobos coach Steve Alford said. "And then to start the second half, I think they really came at us and got some easy baskets, which we hadn't given up in the first half."

Gordon had 4 points and 5 rebounds at halftime -- and scared New Mexico fans when he fell to the floor with 4:47 before halftime with an apparent knee injury. He finished with 21 points and 14 rebounds, both game highs.

Pitino was asked in the postgame media session why he looked so relieved, and if it was due to the last two tournament flame-outs. Pitino countered by noting that, in the two years before those flameouts, the Cardinals went to consecutive Elite Eights.

Why was he so giddy then?

"I'm about as happy as I've ever been in this game right now because these guys truly are like my children," he said.

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Previewing the Round of 32 games at the Rose Garden:

No. 4 seed Indiana (26-8) vs. No. 12 VCU (29-6), 7:10 p.m. ET

VCU coach Shaka Smart enjoys inspiring, insightful quotes, and he's leaning on one that is relevant to his 2011-12 team as it prepares to face Indiana in the South Region with a spot in the Sweet 16 on the line: "Things won are done; joy's soul lies in the doing."

It's from Shakespeare's "Troilus and Cressida," but it could just as easily be from a book on the NCAA tournament, one written as a self-help tome for a select group of so-called mid-majors: "Cinderella: The Year After (and After and After)."

You might have heard this: Smart and the Rams burst onto the scene last year with a surprising Final Four run. Yes, they agree, it was really neat. Yes, they'll tell you, the banners hanging in their home gym still give them goose bumps. But things won are done and losing's soul lies in living in the past.

Said Smart, "We've used that [quote] at times because everyone wants to talk about last year's Final Four run, but that's done, that's over. It's all about now."

The Rams' showdown with Indiana is interesting for a variety of reasons. For one, the Hoosiers are a super-elite program that's been in the dumps of late but is eager to climb back to the top of hoops' Mt. Olympus. VCU is a newbie riding high under Smart's pitch-perfect leadership.

VCU, which has won 18 of 19, is all about its full-court-pressing "Havoc" defense. Indiana is a high-scoring team that isn't afraid to run. The Hoosiers also are great from behind the 3-point line, hitting on 43.6 percent of their attempts, which ranks second in the nation. In their first game here against New Mexico State, they put on an offensive exhibition, hitting 59 percent of their shots, including 7 of 13 from 3-point range. They scored inside and outside, they ran the break, found open looks in the halfcourt and seven players contributed to 15 total assists.

The question on Saturday is whether they can break the Rams' press and again get good looks at the basket. The key, Hoosiers coach Tom Crean said, is to not let the Rams dictate where the ball goes.

"You've got to do a great job of catching the ball where you want to catch it," he said. "If you catch it where they want you to catch it, it's going to be a problem."

VCU has good size, and 7-footer D.J. Haley did an outstanding job Thursday of containing Wichita State big man and leading scorer Garrett Stutz. But Indiana center Cody Zeller offers a different challenge: He's 6-11 and moves like a 3.

"He's as good as any big kid that we've played in the three years I've been at VCU," Smart said of the freshman. "You talk about him running the floor. We definitely can't give him easy baskets in transition. I would guess that one of the things that they'll try to do is get the ball in quickly after makes or, certainly on misses, get the ball outlet quickly and then look for Zeller running to the rim. If you can get the ball in extremely quickly before the press is set up, then that's one way to beat pressure defensive teams."

Against Wichita State, VCU showed it could score out of a half-court offense, which it has struggled to do this season, and make big shots when the screws tighten. And, while Indiana is the pedigreed program, it's the Rams who have been here before.

Of course, four starters are gone from the 2011 VCU team, and Indiana couldn't have looked more poised while it pounded the Aggies. The past, recent and dusty, probably won't dictate much Saturday.

Said VCU senior forward Bradford Burgess when asked to compare last year's team to this year's team, "Really, the only similarity is the name on the jersey."

No. 4 Louisville (27-9) vs. No. 5 New Mexico (28-6), 9:40 p.m. ET

Louisville has inside information on New Mexico. Cardinals assistant coach Wyking Jones was an assistant the previous two seasons for the Lobos. He was particularly close to the Lobos' two best players, forward Drew Gordon and guard Kendall Williams.

It might not matter a whit. It could, in fact, become more of a distraction, something New Mexico coach Steve Alford can anticipate and counter. But the Louisville players and coach Rick Pitino didn't hide the fact they see it as an advantage against the Lobos for Saturday's matchup.

"Well, he can't hurt, obviously, because he recruited some of their players, knows the guys, knows their personalities, when they could get down or when they could be up," Pitino said. "So we're going to have a good feel for them in abbreviated [way]. He gives us things, a feel that we wouldn't normally get."

Said guard Russ Smith, "It definitely helps because he knows their personnel very well. As far as the seniors and juniors on the team, he knows some of the calls that might be made. So Coach Jones definitely is helping us a lot, especially in practice and in film the past day."

The key in this one, however, is shooting. I know: Genius. But this game pits two of the nation's top-five field goal percentage defenses, with both hovering around 38 percent. Both defenses won the battle in their second-round victories. The Cardinals shut down a high-scoring Davidson attack, miring a team that likes to run in a half-court game, while Williams played a major role in shutting down Long Beach State point guard Casper Ware, the Big West Player of the Year, who shot 5 of 19 from the field and was 2-of-9 from 3-point range.

Williams seems most likely to take on surging Louisville point guard Peyton Siva. While Siva isn't the Cardinals' leading scorer, he won Most Outstanding Player as he and his teammates took a surprising roll through the Big East tournament. He scored 17 points -- one below his season's high -- in the win over Davidson, and has averaged 14.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 2.6 steals in five postseason games.

Not surprisingly, the uptick in Siva's play has coincided with the uptick in the Cardinals' fortunes. Pitino credited the change to Siva's late-season ability to vary the speed of his play, which came out of a meeting between the two.

Said Pitino, recalling the meeting, "'Peyton, I'm going to tell you why you're struggling, because you just play at one pace, extremely fast. And because of that, you have a lot of turnovers, because you don't know how to probe and change your pace and create things because you play at one speed.'

"And we showed him a tape of Steve Nash and how Steve always probes and gets in the lane and keeps his dribble and comes back and does something else. And that more than anything else really changed his mindset of learning how to change speeds. And he's been brilliant in the Big East tournament. Brilliant yesterday with doing that. And for someone to make that abrupt change like that and really just visualize himself doing that speaks about his basketball IQ in a big way."

So, is the Siva-Williams matchup going to happen? We'll, er, Siva. Alford wouldn't commit.

"Kendall Williams always gets the top assignment," he said. "If he's the top assignment, Kendall will get that assignment."

While there are some similarities between the teams, there also are plenty of differences. For one, New Mexico doesn't see a lot of full-court press in the Mountain West Conference. And Louisville will be much happier running and creating a frantic pace.

The biggest is this: New Mexico has never reached the Sweet 16. Louisville has been there 17 times, fifth-most in the nation.

But neither history nor Wyking Jones is likely to be the difference in this one. It's probably going to be about getting good looks against defenses that don't give many of them. And converting those looks.

New Mexico’s fans have long treated the Lobos basketball program as the professional sports team the state does not have.

They pack the Pit. They talk about UNM all year long. They paint the town red.

And with that comes high expectations.

But the Lobos haven’t always had to deal with the pressure from the conference or outside the region -- until this season.

New Mexico was the preseason favorite to win the Mountain West.

The Lobos did, sharing the regular-season crown with San Diego State. SDSU was the top seed in the MWC tournament, but UNM won by beating host UNLV on Friday, then San Diego State on Saturday to cap off the title run.

The state of New Mexico follows this team like the Commonwealth shadows Kentucky. But the Wildcats fans usually have their expectations met. That’s not the case from Albuquerque to Alamogordo and all points in between.

“This one is special because we were expected to do it and we did it,’’ said New Mexico coach Steve Alford by phone from Las Vegas after the Lobos’ 68-59 victory over the Aztecs at the Thomas & Mack Center. “We won both the league and the conference tournament. We were picked to win it so there was a lot of pressure all year on these guys.’’

The Lobos were trying to figure themselves out to start the season without a four-year starting point guard in Dairese Gary. That somewhat accounted for a disheartening home loss to rival New Mexico State on Nov. 16, then a befuddling overtime loss to Santa Clara eight days later in the first round of the 76 Classic in Anaheim, Calif.

The Lobos won their next two games and didn’t lose again until hosting San Diego State on Jan. 18.

“It just took us a while,’’ Alford said. “San Diego State and UNLV both had good nonconference wins so they got all the attention early.’’

The Lobos were flying under the radar, yet were racking up wins and split the season series with UNLV and SDSU. They ran out of gas and into two hot home teams in Colorado State and TCU two weeks ago. But that didn’t affect this team, which has now won five straight.

The diversity of scoring with Drew Gordon, Kendall Williams and Tony Snell, the addition of Hugh Greenwood as a steading force at the point, and a coaching staff that is so secure now in this job has led to a program that is winning consistently.

Alford has now reached the NCAA tournament twice in the past three seasons. The Lobos were a No. 3 seed two years ago, beating Montana before losing to Washington.

The expectation will be on the Lobos to advance at least one round next week. Alford is hoping that the Lobos have earned the right to stay out west. New Mexico can’t play in Albuquerque, since it is the host. But UNM could play in Portland. The West regional is in Phoenix if the Lobos were to win two games.

“We’re real anxious to see where we’ll be,’’ Alford said. “We’ve got really good shooting, we’re guarding the ball and we play nine or 10 people. But it will all come down to matchups.’’

Alford said he couldn’t get over how many Lobos fans turned out in Las Vegas. He expects a similar surge on the road in the NCAA tournament.

Dave Bliss had moderate conference tournament success toward the end of his tenure at UNM. Fran Fraschilla and Ritchie McKay weren’t there long enough to establish a tradition. But Alford has now done something the others did not, and that’s get in the NCAAs twice in three years.

“It’s been unbelievable,’’ said Alford, who previously coached Southwest Missouri State (now Missouri State) and Iowa to the NCAA tournament. “I think we’ll have a couple thousand people waiting for us at the airport Sunday. We’ve got such a passionate fan base. We’ve put a good product on the floor. We’ve now had a three-week period where we’ve shot it well and we’ve guarded. Hopefully we can keep doing that and if we do we have a chance to be successful.’’

Click here to read our afternoon recap. Now back to the lecture at hand, which comes in three parts:

The Rivalry

No. 2 Syracuse 71, Connecticut 69: One of the many things to love about this Syracuse team -- besides its great zone defense and incredible depth and talent and length and pretty much everything besides defensive rebounding -- is how well it handles close games. Since the Jan. 21 loss at Notre Dame, Syracuse has taken respective best shots from Cincinnati, West Virginia, Georgetown, Louisville, South Florida and now at UConn, and each time the Orange have either pulled away late or made the key stop down the stretch to preserve the narrow win. It's a real skill, and it isn't entirely intangible; when you have a defense this good, you tend to get a lot of stops, and there's no reason why that wouldn't be true in the final minutes of any given game, too. But however you quantify it, the Orange win close games. Such traits tend to come in handy in March.

As for Connecticut? While the Huskies didn't get the win, they appear to be rounding into form, or at least starting to figure a few things out. UConn had its fair share of issues with Syracuse's zone, and there were plenty of bad shots to be had, but the Huskies were much more balanced (four players finished in double figures, while Ryan Boatright and Shabazz Napier combined for 13 assists) and competent on both ends of the floor in the second half. Unless it suddenly begins shooting the ball from outside at a much higher clip, this team probably has a ceiling. But there are plenty of realistic improvements to be made. Even better, many of them appear to be in progress. Let's not bury this team just yet.

The Upsets

Purdue 75, No. 13 Michigan 61: When Purdue guard Ryne Smith was asked what he thought about guard Kelsey Barlow's dismissal from the team last week, he was direct, even curt: "Addition by subtraction," Smith said. Apparently he was right. Whatever the reason, Purdue played its best game of the season Saturday at the most important time, containing Michigan's outside shooters and slowly stretching a second-half lead thanks to the heady play of point guard Lewis Jackson, forward Robbie Hummel and, most importantly, guard Terone Johnson, who scored a career-high 22 points and made a handful of key plays down the stretch, including two big and-1 finishes around the rim. Purdue is an unconventional team with no true post presence; the Boilermakers rely on Hummel's outside-in versatility and an extended, guard-oriented style. This makes them a great matchup for Michigan, and, in their own way, a dangerous team.

In any case, Purdue can now feel entirely safe about its at-large NCAA tournament chances. Beating Michigan at home -- the Wolverines' first home loss of the season -- is most definitely a signature victory. And it couldn't have come at a better time.

TCU 83, No. 21 New Mexico 64: Let's hear it for TCU! A round of applause is most definitely in order. At this time in 2011, the Horned Frogs were in the midst of a season-ending 13-game losing streak, en route to an 11-22 finish. This season is an entirely different story: TCU is playing its best basketball down the stretch, having won four of its past five (and eight in a row at home) and toppling ranked UNLV and New Mexico and a good Colorado State squad in the process. The key: great 3-point shooting. The Horned Frogs lead the league in long-range makes in conference play, and they're undefeated at home as a result. What a difference a year makes.

In the meantime ... um, what happened to New Mexico? Last Saturday, we watched in near-awe as the Lobos thoroughly dominated UNLV, which came just a few days after a 10-point win at San Diego State. Steve Alford's team, once a relatively unheralded efficiency darling with few good wins to show for it, looked set to run away with the Mountain West and make a deep run into March. Since then, the Lobos are 0-2 and are now in a three-way tie. A loss at Colorado State makes some sense; we know the Rams are tough, particularly at home. And this is not to take away from TCU, which (as you just read above) is giving everyone more than they bargained for in February, particularly in their own building. But a 19-point blowout loss? Isn't this the team that just rolled UNLV in the Pit and moved to 8-2 in the league? It's kind of weird, right?

Georgia 76, No. 11 Florida 62: This is an upset, of course, but I'm not sure we should be all that surprised. Frankly, I'm not sure if a Florida loss should ever truly catch us off guard. Don't get me wrong: The Gators are good. But they're a specific kind of good. When their steady diet of 3s are falling, they can shoot opponents off the floor before said opponents even have a chance to catch their breath. But if the shots aren't going down, Florida has no Plan B. Patric Young is the only true post presence, and his offensive game is still a work in progress (and he's still underutilized as a scoring threat to boot). The Gators' defense -- which ranks fifth in opponents' points per possession in SEC play, No. 10 in opponents' 3-point field goal percentage and No. 10 in block rate -- still isn't good enough to hold opponents in check when the shots clanging off the iron and the opponents start turning long rebounds into secondary breaks and easy buckets. Florida might yet get there on the defensive end, but it isn't yet. If this UF team has a lower ceiling than it should, well, that's why.

The Bubble Specials

Alabama 67, Mississippi State 50: It was instinctively easy to write off the Crimson Tide when coach Anthony Grant suspended Tony Mitchell and JaMychal Green; it was easy to predict a late collapse, even a fall off the bubble, for a team whose two leading scorers would be missing such important games down the stretch. Instead, the Crimson Tide keep, well, rolling. They've now won three in a row and prevented any hint of a collapse. Mississippi State, on the other hand, appears to be doing exactly that: The Bulldogs are collapsing. This is the Bulldogs' fifth consecutive defeat, a stretch that has included some good basketball (in the near-miss vs. Kentucky this week) but also some baffling losses (the loss at Auburn especially). It's no stretch to say Mississippi State -- which for much of the season looked like a tourney near-lock -- could wind up missing the tournament after all. The Bulldogs are, after all, 6-8 and tied with rival Ole Miss in the SEC standings. Ouch.

Northwestern 67, Penn State 66: Breathe a big ol' sigh of relief, Northwestern fans: In the chase for their first NCAA tournament appearance in school history, the Wildcats remain very much alive. Senior forward John Shurna made the game-winning free throws with just 2.6 seconds remaining, giving Bill Carmody his first win in State College since 2002. Big challenges still lie ahead: Ohio State comes to town on Wednesday, followed by next weekend's season-ender at Iowa, a team that just knocked off Indiana and Wisconsin in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. But for now, some minor rejoicing is in order. Northwestern's tourney hopes are still very real.

Rutgers 77, Seton Hall 72 (OT): Let's not take Seton Hall off the bubble just yet, eh? The Pirates got a great win over Georgetown this week, one that could have firmed up a previously shaky at-large profile. All Seton Hall needed to do the rest of the way was avoid bad losses. Well, losing to a young, 13-16 Rutgers team at home is just that. Next weekend, the Hall travels to DePaul. If the Pirates lose there, all the good vibes from the emphatic Georgetown victory will have almost entirely faded from the picture.

VCU 89, George Mason 77: First things first: Thanks to Drexel's one-point win at Old Dominion on Saturday afternoon, VCU's win over George Mason won't give them a share of the CAA title this season. Bummer, sure, but the Rams would surely settle for a spot in the NCAA tournament, something to which they're at least a little closer after this victory today. As a league, the Colonial's top teams (Drexel, VCU and GMU) didn't get quality nonconference wins (VCU's best came against South Florida, for example), so any at-large consideration will have to come from separation at the top and perhaps a pair of deep runs for both Drexel and VCU in the CAA tournament. A win here was a must, and Shaka Smart's team got it, behind Bradford Burgess' career-high 31 points.

Dayton 76, UMass 43: A home loss to UMass can't be called "bad," but for a team like Dayton -- which is desperately scrapping for a spot in the NCAA tournament -- it could have been disastrous. Instead, the opposite happened: UD won, and won big, looking very much like one of the A-10's best teams and a squad worthy of a tourney bid in the process. We'll see how the Flyers finish up, but if they're one of the last four in, they might just be one of the play-in game candidates, which are held in -- you guessed it -- Dayton!

Saint Joseph's 82, No. 22 Temple 72: Speaking of somewhat fringe Atlantic 10 tournament hopefuls, the A-10 can't offer a bubble team a better shot at a marquee win than Temple on its own floor late in the season, but the Hawks still had to overcome Fran Dunphy's typically peerless bunch, which had won its previous 11 games and 13 in the 15-game stretch beginning with its Jan. 4 victory over Duke. Phil Martelli's team is now 9-6 in the league and 19-11 overall, and it added the one thing it desperately needed to its profile: A legitimate top-25 RPI win. Temple is most definitely that.

Penn 55, Harvard 54: Just when you think it's time to plan a long-awaited Harvard hoops coronation, Penn's Zack Rosen comes along, scores 20 points, makes a huge jumper down the stretch and ices two game-winning free throws in the final 30 seconds. And all of a sudden the Ivy League race is legitimately up for grabs with both of these teams having two losses. (Another one-game playoff for the Crimson? Oh boy.) As an at-large entity, Harvard is still in decent shape, but its profile isn't so strong that it can afford to lose at either Columbia or Cornell in its final two games, lose out on the Ivy auto-bid, and still feel safe about being picked to join the group of 37 at-large teams. Big days ahead for Tommy Amaker's team.

Washington 59, Washington State 55: For the first 10 or so minutes of the first half, it looked like Wazzu was going to hand its in-state opponent the type of loss that would severely damage Washington's at-large chances. But the Huskies fought back and, as the AP report notes, won the game's most important battle -- at the charity stripe: "Ultimately, the game came down to free throws. WSU (14-14, 6-10) went 11 of 12 to keep the game tied at 28-all despite shooting 27 percent in the first half. In the second half, the Cougars shot 6 of 20 from the free throw line, while the Huskies, who only went 2 of 5 in the first half, finished 17 of 24." The win keeps Washington on the right side of the bubble for now, but UW's marginal profile might not be able to survive a loss at either USC or UCLA going away.

Xavier 65, Richmond 57: Kenny Frease's season highs in both points (19) and rebounds (14) helped carry Xavier to an ugly but ultimately victorious Saturday. A loss here would have kicked Xavier off the bubble for good and almost certainly, barring an upset in the A-10 tournament, ended Chris Mack's 100 percent NCAA tournament hit rate in his XU tenure. Instead, the Musketeers live to fight another day.

No. 21 San Diego State 74, Colorado State 66: The Rams pass at least two NCAA tournament bubble tests: The RPI/SOS numbers are great, and they sure do look like a tournament team. But will that be enough? A win in Viejas Arena would have provided a tidy bookend to this week's huge victory over New Mexico, but the loss isn't a huge deal. Colorado State, which is undefeated at home in Mountain West play, hosts UNLV in Fort Collins in just three days' time. Win that one and the Rams are probably set.

Editor’s note: Jay Bilas breaks down Saint Mary’s-Murray State in today’s Weekend Watch. Myron Medcalf offers a dozen more games to keep an eye on this weekend.

Friday

Northern Iowa at VCU (7 ET, ESPN2): VCU reached last season's Final Four. Northern Iowa reached the Sweet 16 two seasons ago. But both squads enter this BracketBusters game in need of some late-season momentum and probably a conference tournament title to guarantee a berth. With both squads coming off losses -- the Rams lost to George Mason on a buzzer-beater Tuesday; the Panthers have lost two of three -- this could be the game that starts that late-season push. UNI is out of the at-large running, but VCU still clings to hope -- and this is a must-win.

Saturday

Marquette at Connecticut (12 ET, ESPN): If there's any hope left for UConn, it has to kick in nowish. Despite the Huskies' tumultuous season, it's hard to ignore last year's finish. Few had expected much from the program before it reeled off a run that ultimately led to a national title. The Golden Eagles are playing for seeding in the NCAA and Big East tourneys. And they're still in the Big East title conversation. They have an easy stretch that includes just one nationally-ranked squad (Georgetown) in their final five regular-season games. But late stumbles, especially with three more road games, could alter their postseason position.

Wichita State at Davidson (12 ET, ESPN2): Both teams have something to prove in this BracketBusters matchup. Davidson has a chance to show that its December victory over Kansas wasn't a fluke. The Shockers are clearly one of the top 20 teams in America in my opinion. But their omission from this week's ESPN/USA Today Coaches' poll suggests that some still doubt the Missouri Valley leader. The Shockers are in the NCAA tournament. On the road at Davidson, however, they can prove that they're capable of a run.

Florida State at NC State (1 ET, ESPN3): The Wolfpack (No. 49 RPI) could use a signature victory to enhance their résumé, especially after blowing a 20-point lead against Duke on Thursday night. NC State faces Florida State and North Carolina, both at home, in their next two outings, crucial games for its NCAA at-large hopes. The Seminoles are still in contention for the ACC title. But their loss at Boston College last week and a shaky win against Virginia Tech on Thursday didn't exactly make Leonard Hamilton's squad look the part. There's a three-way logjam at the top of the league and the Seminoles have struggled on the road. They have to keep winning to stay in the mix, which is why Saturday's game is so significant.

UNLV at New Mexico (1 ET, CBS): Most figured that UNLV would enter mid-February as the top team in the Mountain West. Guess again. New Mexico's win over San Diego State elevated Steve Alford's squad to the top of the conference. But Saturday wins by UNLV and San Diego State (at Air Force) would create a three-way tie between SDSU, UNLV and New Mexico entering the final four games of the year. The Pit will be an absolute madhouse for this one. Should be a lot of fun.

Arizona at Washington (3 ET, FSN): Who knows what to expect in the final weeks of the Pac-12 season, but Arizona and Washington are fighting for the Pac-12 title (the Wildcats are 10-4 and the Huskies are 11-3). And they're also trying to boost their thin at-large résumés. Joe Lunardi has both teams in his latest bracket, but not exactly by a wide margin (UW is the last team in). A strong finish by either could solidify an at-large slot. And in the weak Pac-12, a string of losses could lead to an NIT invitation.

Seton Hall at Cincinnati (4 ET, ESPN3): Losing skids interrupted the at-large hopes of both. The Bearcats have lost four of their past seven. Prior to their current three-game winning streak, the Pirates had lost six in a row. Lunardi projected both programs as double-digit-seeds in the Big Dance, so they can't feel secure entering their final stretch of the regular season. They're out of the Big East title conversation, but a Saturday victory could go a long way toward impressing the selection committee.

Florida at Arkansas (6 ET, ESPN): The Razorbacks aren't in the field right now. But Arkansas can sneak in with three remaining games against top-50 schools and the SEC tourney ahead. They've struggled on the road, but have found success at home. The Razorbacks could change their postseason prospects with a Saturday win. After losing to Tennessee last week, the Gators beat Alabama in their next game. Any momentum would be beneficial as their March 4 matchup against No. 1 Kentucky approaches.

Yale at Harvard (7 ET): Tommy Amaker's squad leads the Ivy League with a 7-1 record entering Friday's matchup against Brown. Saturday's matchup against 6-2 Yale (the Bulldogs play Dartmouth Friday), however, could change that. The Crimson were expected to run away with the Ivy League. And their 30-point win over Yale last month suggests that they'll stay on top of the conference. Harvard, however, has found itself in an unexpected fight for the Ivy League's title and automatic bid.

Ohio State at Michigan (9 ET, ESPN): Big Ten title implications here. If the Buckeyes win this game, then they'll stay on top of the Big Ten with an 11-3 record, one that Michigan State could match with a win at Purdue on Sunday. A loss, however, would allow Michigan to tie the Buckeyes and give the Spartans a chance to grab sole possession of first place. With only a handful of games remaining, the Big Ten is still tight at the top. Big game for the Big Ten.

Long Beach State at Creighton (10 ET, ESPN2): Long Beach State (No. 44 RPI) hopes to avoid the drama from the past two years. The 49ers missed the NCAA tournament following consecutive losses in the Big West tourney title game. A road victory over Creighton could help the 49ers grab an at-large bid, but a loss could put them in the same scenario they've found themselves in the past two years. Creighton looks like a lock for the Big Dance, despite a recent three-game losing skid. A loss here, however, could jeopardize that position and lead to more questions about Greg McDermott's squad.

Sunday

Michigan State at Purdue (1 ET, CBS): If Ohio State loses to Michigan on Saturday, the Spartans can seize first place -- alone -- with a road win over the Boilermakers. But Purdue nearly knocked off the Buckeyes in Columbus. They have won two in a row and they know that a victory over a Spartans squad that might earn a No. 1 seed would be a huge boost for their at-large résumé. Expect a battle in West Lafayette.

1. Steve Lavin sat out Tuesday night’s St. John’s win over St. Francis (N.Y.) as he continues his ongoing recovery from serious, seven-hour prostate surgery. Lavin did coach last week in New York for two games. Lavin said late Tuesday night part of the recovery is to manage his energy and to pick his spots. Lavin recruited Saturday and Sunday and went to practice Monday to continue to build his stamina level. But with such a trusted top assistant in Mike Dunlap, Lavin can be like a general manager at times during his recovery and entrust Dunlap to run some of the day-to-day operation like a game as he recovers.

2. Missouri coach Frank Haith said he was going to play much more up tempo and would look to push the basketball. He certainly has the Tigers on the right track here early. The Tigers crushed Cal in the CBE Classic final Tuesday night by playing quickly. The Tigers are one of the positive early-season surprises. UCLA and Detroit are on the opposite end as major disappointments. The Titans were expected to be the preseason Horizon League favorite, but lost again Tuesday night at Bowling Green. The Titans are off to a 2-3 start with no Division I wins yet, losing at Notre Dame and to George Washington, as well.

3. Nothing like a proud father. New Mexico’s Steve Alford reported Tuesday night that his son, junior Bryce Alford scored 44 points in a win for Albuquerque’s La Cueva High, breaking former La Cueva forward and Arizona forward A.J. Bramlet’s record. Alford won’t have to go far for this recruitment. There are plenty of involved fathers out there, including Vanderbilt’s Kevin Stallings, whose son Jacob is a catcher for the North Carolina baseball team. Stallings loves talking about helping coach and just be around his children.

1. USC coach Kevin O’Neill was much more optimistic about the return of his heralded newcomer, center DeWayne Dedmon, late Wednesday night. O’Neill said Dedmon will be in a cast for three weeks with a broken right hand, but should get his cast off in time for the Nov. 11 opener against Northridge. “He is going to practice," O’Neill said. “He won’t do offense, though." O’Neill said Dedmon will be behind since he needs the preseason practices. “We’ll find a way to be good," O’Neill said. “He’s going to be an NBA player some day, but he’s not even close to being ready." The Trojans are still smarting from losing leading scorer Jio Fontan to a knee injury during a summer trip to Brazil.

2. Temple is waiting for Missouri to make up its mind. The Owls are convinced, according to a source with direct knowledge, that they won’t know if they have a Big East invitation until Missouri decides if it is staying in the Big 12. That’s because the Big East doesn’t know how many schools it needs to add until the Big 12 indicates whether it might poach schools from the Big East. The Owls would be a huge get for the Big East in basketball in an attempt to alleviate the loss of Pitt and Syracuse.

3. Steve Alford has elevated the Lobos in a short period at New Mexico. But he hasn’t had to deal with the expectations that he’ll be faced with this season. The Lobos are the pick to win the Mountain West Conference by the league media. And the Lobos dominated the preseason all-league honors. Drew Gordon was tabbed as the preseason POY and guard Kendall Williams was a fellow first-team member. Australian guard Hugh Greenwood was selected as the top freshman. The Lobos, though, can’t fall flat early. The Thanksgiving weekend 76 Classic in Anaheim is set up for a possible UNM-Villanova final. Anything less than a title game appearance would be a disappointment for UNM.

New Mexico freshman Hugh Greenwood has an opportunity to make an impact on a team that's in need of a point guard and might have found a good one from Australia. Greenwood signed with the Lobos in the spring, starred on Australia's Under-19 world championship team in the summer, and now could fill the position vacated by stalwart Dairese Gary.

Greenwood's comfort level playing far from home is an important factor given his ability to tip the Mountain West race in New Mexico's favor. According to the Albuquerque Journal, coach Steve Alford has him bonding with the other freshmen and fitting in well with teammates who are learning about his Aussie style.

"I was a little bit worn out when I got here, so the coaches gave me a little bit of time off," Greenwood says. "But I've been living out of home for four years now, so it's made it easier moving away from home. Then again, I’m on the other side of the world; not one plane flight away. That’s hard."

The biggest communication problem Dommo [fellow freshman Dominique Dunning] and Hughey say they have comes over food.

"It's a chicken burger," Greenwood says.

"Which is a chicken sandwich," says Dunning.

A potato gem?

"That's a tater tot," Dunning says he's learned.

"And if we go out and I forget my wallet, instead of saying 'I'll spot you,' he says 'I'll shout you.'"

Greenwood's smooth adjustment thus far is good news for a New Mexico team that is anchored by MWC player of the year candidate Drew Gordon and in need of stability at point guard. For now, it's good that Greenwood has found friendship. After signing with the Lobos, he called it mateship.

"In my short time in Albuquerque, I felt like it was a home away from home for me," he said. "Everywhere my family and I went, whether it was around campus, restaurants or even the mall, everyone was so friendly towards us and passionate about the Lobos. This is also what Australia is all about, 'Mateship' as we call it back in Australia."

At a time when Mountain West rival New Mexico has declared war on Twitter, Colorado State's Tim Miles has emerged as the coach who is out to save it.

Miles is anything but boring on Twitter. His tweets have appeared during halftime, he yfrogged a photo of his signed contract extension in advance of the school's official announcement in May, and he's even joked about New Mexico coach Steve Alford's ban on Twitter.

Now the Rams have put out a series of commercials to promote not only ticket sales, but sell Miles' humorous personality on Twitter.

In one commercial, Miles reads a fan's tweet about a cat in a tree and saves the day by bringing along 7-foot center Trevor Williams for help. In another, Miles helps assists a fan having trouble removing the Colorado State green paint from the previous night's game.

And finally, there's Miles in the locker room critiquing his players' attempts at tweeting and exhorting them to do better.

Of course, Miles takes his job seriously as the Colorado State coach. The Rams won 19 games last season, and their fourth-place finish in the Mountain West earned them large home crowds and a trip to the NIT.

CSU lost its top two scorers, but does return a talented junior class that includes top returning scorer Wes Eikmeier and Dorian Green, who is praised for his tweeting in one of the commercials. Now Miles, who is in his fifth season, will look to take the Rams to their third straight postseason tournament after years of frustration.

He'll do it with a smile. And as a coach who doesn't take himself too seriously, he'll tweet all about it, too.

After reading a story in the Albuquerque Journal about how New Mexico coach Steve Alford received a $10,000 bonus for the team's "so-so" strength of schedule, university president David Schmidly had enough and fired off a strongly-worded letter to the editor defending his coach and criticizing the beat writer at the paper.

"Having read Mark Smith's broadside, 'Alford Cashes In on a So-So Schedule,' it occurs to me a diligent reporter would share with his readers some basic facts that speak to the totality of Steve Alford's tenure at UNM," Schmidly wrote before noting Alford's success with players on the court and in the classroom.

"The reporter's limited perspective also fails to speak of the overall contribution Steve Alford has made to UNM, its basketball program and the community. He's helped Special Olympics New Mexico raise more than a quarter million dollars. In his four years here, Coach Alford has rekindled Lobo Pride in its premiere sport. He has brought honor and national attention to our university. He is an individual to celebrate, not denigrate."

Schmidly's letter was published by the Albuquerque Journal and represents a rare case in which a dispute with a beat reporter has not only reached the highest level of the university, but has also been made public.

The current issue arose after the school disputed that it had a weak nonconference strength of schedule, noting that it was ranked 152nd in the nation at the end of the nonconference season while Smith confirmed that at the end of the season, the NCAA ranked it 284th.

Schmidly, who did not dispute the facts of the strength of schedule story in his letter, is now making his feelings known about Smith at a time when the Lobos are likely entering the season as the favorites in the Mountain West.

The Albuquerque Journal had this response to Schmidly's letter:

"Throughout Steve Alford's four-year tenure as UNM men’s basketball coach, Mark Smith and the Journal have chronicled Alford's successes along the way. One story, headlined "Tank or Rank" on July 31, covered much of what President Schmidly addresses. It compared coach Alford's record -- favorably, in most cases -- to that of his predecessors. We also have written of his involvement with Special Olympics. Smith's Sept. 9 story was not intended to recap Alford's career at UNM; it focused on the strength of UNM's nonconference schedule and Alford's bonuses, as provided by his contract."

New Mexico is one of the favorites in the Mountain West Conference, and if the Lobos want to reach the NCAA tournament with an at-large bid, they had better perform well away from The Pit.

On the road is where they can find signature wins.

That's because they'll be playing at Arizona State, at USC, against Oklahoma State in Oklahoma City. At the 76 Classic in Anaheim, Calif., they'll take on Santa Clara in the opening round, Oklahoma or Washington State in the next round and could be bound for a date with Villanova.

At home, New Mexico definitely needs wins as well with Missouri State, New Mexico State and Saint Louis coming to town. But after the Lobos declined to schedule UTEP at The Pit, some of the teams the Lobos will face might not help their strength of schedule, according to the Albuquerque Journal.

Nearly every non-MWC team on this year’s home schedule had losing Division I records last season. The exceptions are North Dakota (19-15 and 8-5 in the Great West Conference), Missouri-Kansas City (16-14, 9-9 in the Summit League) and Missouri State (26-9 and won the Missouri Valley Conference regular season title at 15-3). The latter game was set up by the leagues as part of the MVC-Mountain West Conference Challenge.

Houston Baptist was 5-26 and 2-10 in the Great West while NMSU was 16-17 and 9-7 in the WAC. Montana State and Idaho State combined for overall records of 22-38 and 11-21 in the Big Sky Conference.

New Mexico coach Steve Alford, who can't afford losses to some of those teams, remains confident that success during the nonconference portion of the schedule can get the Lobos to where they want to go.

"With a lot of returning players and experience from a year ago and the loss of two conference teams, a lot of emphasis was put on the strength of our nonconference schedule," Alford said in a statement. "For the first time in school history we will play 16 nonleague games and not start Mountain West play until Jan 14. I am very pleased that this schedule will prepare us for league play as well as give us plenty of opportunities to set us up for postseason play."

New Mexico coach Steve Alford recently banned his players from tweeting, causing one Twitter-happy rival Mountain West Conference coach to poke fun at the rule and 710 ESPN radio host John Ireland to put himself in the shoes of a recruit.

"If I had to pick from various schools and I like to Twitter, I would say, 'Hey man, what's up with this ban on Twitter?'" Ireland said. "I like to keep up with what my friends are doing. I like to tweet. They like to tweet."

But apparently New Mexico fully understands how the Twitter ban can effect recruiting and is absolutely fine with that, as Lobos assistant coach Ryan Miller indicated to the Argus Leader.

"Our program is followed by the media quite regularly, and we want to make sure the kids are protected," said Miller, who was recruiting in Las Vegas on Saturday. "There might be some kids who say they don't want to go to a place where they can't do Twitter, but those aren't the kind of players we want."

In other words, if Twitter is actually factor in a recruit's decision-making process, chances are he wouldn't fit in well at New Mexico.

The Lobos of late have been hoping to capitalize on recruiting momentum gained when they won the Mountain West Conference title and earned a No. 3 seed in the 2010 NCAA tournament. Alford has been doing well with a mix of high school recruits, transfers and international players who have come to Albuquerque and found success.

But at a school where the basketball program has the following of a pro sports team, Alford found it necessary to stop his players from making poor decisions. It was shortly before Jarion Henry committed to the school that the recruit managed to cause a stir in the media with some of his tweets. Alford ultimately decided that players enrolled in school would not be allowed to tweet at all.

Henry has yet to qualify academically and continues to be active on Twitter since he has not enrolled, so the Lobos will celebrate if and when he does gain the privilege of being forced to shut down his account.

For now, the war on Twitter in Albuquerque is real. Recruits who not only love tweeting, but also aren't so sure they could give it up need not apply with Alford.

It hasn't been easy over the years for New Mexico to put together a schedule since opponents generally don't like going to The Pit, one of the toughest places to play in America.

Now it appears a previously proposed series of games between regional rivals New Mexico and UTEP that would have had the Miners visiting Albuquerque this coming season has fallen apart. As Lobos coach Steve Alford told 770 KKOB, "The UTEP game is something I'm not in favor of."

Why might Alford turn down a quality opponent in UTEP, a team the Lobos have faced 141 times since 1929? Well, there was that verbal incident at The Pit last season over the shootaround times before an NIT game between the two teams.

The two coaching staffs got riled up over UTEP's scheduled warm-up time in the building and had a confrontation that didn't simmer down until after the coaches had taken their shots in the media.

We know Alford and Floyd, two of the more passionate coaches around, can easily get their feathers ruffled. Still, the Albuquerque Journal noted even after all that, UTEP coach Tim Floyd maintained he was open to returning to The Pit, saying, "I think we should play every year until they take the air out of the basketball. We come up here next (season) because it's important to the fans of the programs."

Alford is now apparently in disagreement, and after New Mexico ended up winning the NIT game, it doesn't appear that the two teams will be meeting any time soon despite having a rivalry that was just starting to heat up again.

It's really too bad that the air in the basketball has apparently been replaced by a bunch of hot air.

New Mexico coach Steve Alford recently sent a handwritten fax to the Albuquerque Journal to inform the paper that one of his particularly Twitter-happy incoming freshmen would not be allowed an account upon enrolling.

The same apparently applies to the rest of the team after Alford instituted a Twitter ban for players (Facebook is fine) that will prevent force incoming freshmen like Jarion Henry to delete his account when he arrives on campus and even Alford's own son to stop tweeting, according to the paper.

Alford, who has his own Twitter account but hasn't posted since September, knows what information about his program he wants to make public, and what information he doesn’t. Trusting loose-lipped college kids to be on the same page obviously is not his plan.

UNM's other three incoming freshman have or had Twitter accounts: Alford's son, walk-on Kory Alford, hasn't posted since UNM began summer school in early June.

Hugh Greenwood, the potential starting point guard who hails from Australia, has barely tweeted but will have to give up his account as well.

"I just use it to follow all my mates over in the USA, and figured my mates in AUS would use it to follow me, too," Greenwood told the Albuquerque Journal. "But it’s not a huge deal because I prefer Facebook anyway. I rarely make 'Tweets' unless I'm replying to someone else or thanking someone for mentioning me."

Doing so could cost New Mexico players dearly because disciplinary action for violating social media policies can be harsh, according to KOAT-TV.

UNM said it has a three strike rule when it comes to its social media policy. Depending on the third offense the player could lose his or her scholarship, be suspended or removed from the team.

Bob Knight certainly never had to deal with such a thing while coaching Alford at Indiana, but in an Internet age when one unsavory tweet has the potential to go viral, Alford is like many other coaches who want to take every precaution.

Is the New Mexico policy draconian? Maybe, but much like the playing time and scholarships the players receive, it's all a privilege, not a right.